Five Stages
by queenb81385
Summary: When a hospital fundraiser brings Sebastian Charles back to Princeton Plainsboro House is forced to deal with Cameron. HouseCameron
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

There are five stages of death; denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Some people experience all five, some don't. Some experience it in that order, while some simply skip ahead or jolt around nervously. I explained all of this to Cameron on the day she told me she hated me and had moved on, while she was going through them herself for Cindy Lou Who or whatever her name was. The saddest thing is that I'm not experiencing the five stages of dying because I'm dying. No. It's because I'm standing here watching the she-devil drop kick my pride to death.

xxxxxx

(Anger)

"It's a benefit House. Suck it up and get over it!" Cuddy screeched.

"It's not just a benefit Cuddy. It's a fashion show!" House whined. 

Cuddy laughed at his misery. "I know. I set it up House." 

"And what made you think anyone would want to participate in a fashion show?" 

Cuddy smiled. "I think Dr. Cameron might be interested in the fashion show," she said not noticing the way House's face contorted nervously at the mention of Cameron. 

"And why is that?" he asked curiously. 

Cuddy looked at him closely. "You didn't read the rest of the memo?" 

"Uh, no," House said obviously. 

"We're throwing the benefit to raise money for Dr. Sebastian Charles and his TB clinic in Africa."

House rolled his eyes in irritation. "I can't stand that man," he said under his breath trying to ignore the way he was reacting to the idea of Charles being anywhere near Cameron again.

"It's tonight, you're coming. Get over it," Cuddy said smiling.

House groaned and threw his hands up in the air. "Why am I just now hearing about this damn thing?" he demanded.

Cuddy sighed. "Maybe because you pissed Cameron off with your whole 'fake cancer' stunt; and she's so angry, she's refusing to play secretary for you any longer. Then, there's also the fact that everyone else is just as pissed at you as she is, so they're not talking to you either. Maybe, if you ever came out of your office or put the damn Game Boy down, you'd have seen the fliers posted all over the hospital. Or maybe if you'd have taken the ear buds out of your ear and turned the I Pod off for two seconds you'd have heard people talking about it as well."

"Cuddy..."

"It's at eight o'clock. Be there. Tux included. Don't be late because I plan to add an extra hour of clinic duty onto your schedule for every minute you're late..." 

"And be on your best behavior, don't embarrass this hospital, yada yada yada. I got it," he snapped bitterly and turning to leave. 

"And be nice to Dr. Charles," she called out to his retreating form. She was simply rewarded with a slammed door.

xxxxxx

Wilson turned the corner heading towards his office tiredly. It turned out not talking to House was equally as exhausting as talking to House. He groaned in frustration when he saw House standing at his door waiting for him. "What do you want?" he asked grumpily.

House cocked one of his eyebrows at him. "You know, I don't remember you being this mad at me before. You know, when you came to me telling me that I needed to start small and have dinner with a friend, while you oh so subtly pointed at yourself. Where'd that Jimmy go?" 

Wilson rolled his eyes. "He's been too busy cleaning up the mess you made. And I am mad at you House! You faked cancer! You hurt everyone around you so you could get a drug implanted in your head. " 

House rolled his eyes. "I know what I did. But I never meant for any of you to find out. And you know that!" 

Wilson shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Now, what do you want because I have patients." 

House sighed. "A fashion show. Are you kidding me?" 

"It's what Cuddy wanted House. And honestly, you should be all for Cuddy getting what she wants considering what she did for you." 

House groaned. "But it's a fashion show...for _Sebastian Charles_." 

Wilson sighed. "The fact that you hate the guy doesn't make his cause any less important." 

House rolled his eyes. "Actually I think it does." 

"Of course you do House..." 

"He's not coming here for a benefit. He's coming back hoping to drag Cameron back to Africa with him," House snapped frustrated.

Wilson smiled evilly at House. "You're jealous. You think she's going to take him up on his offer this time," he said before snorting out a laugh. "Kind of makes you wish you'd waited until next week to fake brain cancer doesn't it," Wilson said before walking into his office and shutting the door in House's face. 

xxxxxx 

"I can't..." Foreman said exasperatedly. "Wendy we've been over this. I'm not ready for the level of commitment you want from me... No I don't think we can be together again... Because I don't want to be with you...Seriously Wendy crying isn't going to make me change my mind... Stop calling me," he said before hanging up.

"Can't shake her can you?" Cameron said from behind. 

Foreman shook his head startled. "No. I really can't." 

Cameron nodded. "I understand. I finally convinced Chase I wasn't serious when I suggested a casual sex relationship with him on Valentine's Day."

Foreman looked at her in shock. "You what? No, never mind I don't want to know," he said quickly. 

Cameron nodded and started walking back towards the Diagnostic Department, Foreman following beside her. "So, did Cuddy talk you into modeling at this thing too?" 

Foreman sighed. "Yeah. Ironically, I just got done explaining to Wendy that I didn't want to be in a committed relationship, and Cuddy has me playing groom to some bride. You?" 

Cameron smiled. "I haven't seen my dress yet but I've been told it's gorgeous." 

Foreman smiled at her. "I'm sure it is. So are you excited to see Sebastian Charles again?" 

Cameron smiled and shrugged. "I guess so," she said. She opened her mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by House bursting into the room. 

"Daddy thinks it's time you kids stopped with the silent treatment," he said glaringly.

Cameron looked back at Foreman. "Excuse me," she said before turning around and storming back out of the conference room.

Foreman watched House watch her go; and surprisingly, he thought he saw a hint of sadness on his face. He sighed and looked away from House.

Guess she's still mad," House said under his breath and started to head for his office.

Why shouldn't she be?" Foreman snapped forcing House to stop walking and face him.

"Finally, someone other than Cuddy and Wilson cracked! Personally, I thought it was going to be Chase," House said smiling widely.

Foreman cut his eyes at House. "You're an ass, you know that right?"

House shrugged. "Well... yeah." 

Foreman groaned. "You didn't really expect her to just bounce back did you?! You faked cancer House! She cares about you. She was petrified at the thought of you dying." 

House shrugged. "Ok," he said simply before walking into his office and shutting the door behind him. 

Foreman stared off after him incensed that the only thing House had to say for himself was 'Ok'.

xxxxxx 

Cameron smiled happily as Sebastian Charles entered her line of view. "Sebastian!" she said walking towards him. 

Sebastian smiled at her before engulfing her in a hug. "Allison. I've missed you," he said happily.

She smiled warmly. "How's the clinic in Africa?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not saving enough people. Things could be better." 

Cameron smiled softly. "You can't save everyone." 

He sighed. "I know but we could save more. What about you? How's work here?" 

Cameron sighed. "It's fine." 

"And you still find working with House stimulating?" he asked snidely.

Cameron winced. "It's definitely something." 

Sebastian shook his head. "I can't believe you find working for a man like that rewarding." 

Cameron let out another sigh. "You just don't know House, Ok? I've done some things I'm not proud of since you've been gone, and he's never used them against me," she said ignoring the voice in her head that said 'except sleeping with Chase'.

"And you never stopped to think that maybe House's influence was what caused you to do such things?" 

Cameron groaned before pulling him back into her arms and hugging him tightly again. She pulled back and smiled at him. "I missed you, too," she uttered trying to change the subject then added, "So, I hear there's going to be dancing at this thing."

Sebastian smiled widely at her before walking them both towards the clinic. "Let's hope you don't have two left feet," he said jokingly. 

xxxxxx 

Wilson looked at Cuddy closely. "You're punishing him." 

Cuddy simply nodded. "Yes," she said plainly. "House hurt everyone here with his stunt." _I even let him grab my ass_ she added silently. "So, when Sebastian Charles called to discuss his TB medication, I offered our hospital up for a fundraiser. He seemed so excited about it, and I got a thrill out of the fact that House would hate it."

Wilson looked at her surprised. "What if he doesn't show?" 

Cuddy scoffed. "Are you kidding? His fellows are in a fashion show. That's at least a month's worth of mocking material. He wouldn't miss this," Cuddy said knowingly.

Wilson smiled. "No, he wouldn't," he said unsure of why he didn't realize that himself. Then he looked over at Cuddy worriedly. "You know, this has the potential to end very badly. I mean, House genuinely dislikes Charles. I'm still unsure why but he does. And he's been acting so weird lately. Charles may just set him off."

xxxxxx 

Cameron looked at her dress, carefully inspecting every inch of it making sure there was nothing wrong with it. The last thing she wanted was to be walking down the runway and have some embarrassing wardrobe malfunction. Satisfied that it was still in prefect condition, she zipped the garment bag back up and carried it out of the conference room. 

After Sebastian had gone to help Cuddy set up for the benefit she had gone back up to the Diagnostics Department in hopes of getting some work done. But it hadn't taken her long to realize that with House in the next room sitting at his desk playing Game Boy she couldn't focus on anything. Saddened by the fact that they currently had no case and the clinic was unusually quiet and empty, she headed up to the Immunology Department. After discovering that they also had no use for her, she stormed back down to Diagnostics and gathered her belongings. She strode over to the white board and picked up one of the forbidden markers. After writing "Gone home" and signing her name, she left the hospital and headed home. 

xxxxxx 

House stared at her writing on the white board and sighed. The silent treatment was really bothering him, which was weird because normally he was begging people to shut up and leave him alone. He hated that he actually understood why she was so angry. He had allowed her to make a fool out of herself while he kept his mouth shut and let her think he was dying. He regretted that, but he wasn't about to let her know it. He didn't know what in the hell he was thinking letting her kiss him, and even worse he couldn't figure out why he had kissed her back the way he did with so much intensity. 

He looked over at the clock and noticed it was late enough that he could leave without thoroughly pissing Cuddy off and gathered his stuff also. He was grateful that he hadn't been forced to converse with Charles yet, but still cringed as he passed two nurses who were gossiping about how cute he was and how lucky that Dr. Cameron must be since it was so obvious he wants her. Rolling his eyes and shoving any hint of jealously down deep, he left the hospital and headed for home. He arrived there about ten minutes later and began pulling out the clothing he'd need for the benefit. 

He contemplated how bad it would really be if he actually didn't show up for the benefit. Cuddy had threatened him with clinic duty but nothing else. He already didn't do his clinic hours. He could even make Chase do the extra ones instead. Happy with his decision not to go, he sat down with a glass of scotch and flipped through his Tivo. Landing on a rerun of General Hospital, he smiled a half smile and got comfortable.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

'What in the hell am I doing here?' House snapped to himself. 'I said I wasn't going to show up here.' he added as he looked around the hospital. Taking in all the formal wear, his eyes immediately searched out the bar and then Cuddy. Hoping that once he found her she'd silently just accept his presence he frowned as she began heading over towards him. He gratefully accepted the drink he had ordered from the bartender and walked to a nearby table to sit. 

Cuddy smiled at him softly. "You're here?" she stated in faux surprise.

House rolled his eyes. "You threatened me."

Cuddy nodded. "I know. I'm just surprised it worked."

House shrugged with boredom. "I'm surprised you're fun bags haven't popped out of the skin-tight dress you have on there," he said then stared pointedly at her breasts and gulped down his first drink of the event. "Then again, they aren't really still completely in the dress now are they?"

Cuddy looked down self-consciously at her dress. "It's Versace," she said frowning.

House rolled his eyes. "I'm not sure why you thought I'd care. I'm not a female," he said boredly looking around the room again. "Or Wilson," he added as he saw Wilson heading towards them. House noticed Cuddy's preoccupation and stood up and walked back to the bar.

Cuddy looked up at House's retreating form and then over towards Wilson. "Look he's here," she said smiling.

Wilson nodded. "I see that," he said calmly before looking away from House's spot at the bar. "He's barely been here for five minutes and he's already on his second drink." he said nervously.

Cuddy looked at Wilson's worried expression. "Are you really that worried about tonight?"

Wilson scoffed. "You have House, Sebastian Charles and an open bar in the same room at a fashion show. How can you not be?" he said inquisitively. He started to head towards the bar but turned back around at her worried expression. "Nice dress, by the way. Is that Versace?"

xxxxxx

Foreman looked up at Wendy, with anger and disbelief dripping form his expression. "What did you do!" he yelled.

Wendy smiled nervously. "Ok, I know what you're going to say. Just calm down Eric," she said patronizingly.  
"Calm down! Calm down? Are you serious?" he yelled. "You're standing in front of me in a wedding dress for God's sake! I will not calm down!"

Wendy sighed. "I don't know why you're so angry with me Eric," she said picking up a veil.

"NO! Put that down. Stop getting ready. I'm not doing this Wendy."

Wendy looked at him tiredly. "Not doing what Eric? We already agreed to this."

Foreman shook his head fast. "No. No. You agreed to this. I never signed up to play groom to your bride."

Wendy sighed sadly. "But, I love you."

"We broke up!" he yelled.

She frowned deeply. "I refuse to sit here and watch you turn into Gregory House! I don't for the life of me understand why you want to be alone Eric!"

"I don't!" he snapped. "I don't want to be alone. But I don't want to be with you!"

Wendy frowned and held back her tears. "And I intend to change your mind."

Foreman rolled his eyes and stormed off in search of Cuddy.

xxxxxx

Cuddy smiled warmly at Sebastian Charles as he approached her. "So the show starts in about twenty minutes. It should last about an hour and a half. Then the donation portion of the evening will begin and coincide with the dancing and cocktails."

Sebastian nodded. "Get enough liquor in people and the donations should start pouring in."

Cuddy smiled widely. "Exactly."

Sebastian smiled happily. "Sounds great...have you seen Dr. Cameron anywhere?"

Cuddy looked around for a moment before shaking her head. "No, she's probably in the back getting ready though." she said helpfully.

Sebastian smiled widely. "Thank you," he said politely, "Excuse me," he added before walking away.

"Of course," Cuddy said watching him head towards the dressing room. She had barely turned around when she felt a hand on her shoulder.  
"Dr. Cuddy." Foreman said.

She smiled politely. "Dr. Foreman. Is there something I can help you with?"

Foreman nodded. "You can tell me that I don't have to be the groom."

xxxxxx

Cameron looked at herself carefully in the mirror. She loved her dress. It was perfect. The red fabric looked fantastic and reminded her of House's face the last time she had worn a red formal. She smiled widely at the memory of him speechless and then chastised herself for thinking about him. They were obviously going to be pretending the kiss had never happened and even that didn't upset her as much as House's fake cancer scare had.

He had terrified her. She thought he was dying and that she would lose another man that she cared about to cancer. He'd be lucky if she ever spoke to him privately again. Groaning as she realized that her thoughts were once again filled with House she briefly entertained the idea of beating her head against the nearest wall.

She wanted to talk to him. She could admit that. She wanted him to talk to her---to explain himself. She wanted him to explain why he had kissed her back with such passion and fervor. Suddenly realizing that she'd never know the real answer to that question she frowned.

"Now you look way too gorgeous for frowning," Sebastian said from behind her.

Cameron blushed slightly. "Thank you. You don't look so bad yourself," she said smiling at him.

"Thank you," he said smiling back.

"I meant to ask you earlier, how have you been feeling? Any relapse from the TB?"

Sebastian shook his head. "No, I'm perfectly healthy. I could use some more pills though."

"But you just said you felt fine..." she said confused.

"Do you have any idea how many people die from TB in Africa Allison?"

Cameron smiled. "I thought I told you not to give away all your pills," she said jokingly.

xxxxxx

Chase walked confidently up to his modeling partner. He assumed she was new to the nursing program since he had never met her. He smiled his hundred-watt smile and held out his hand in an attempt to shake hers. "Robert Chase," he said happily.  
She rolled her eyes at his smile. "Lizette Dumont," she said plainly and then added, "And don't bother. I'm not even remotely interested in you, no matter how good your shark story is."

Chase looked at her in shock _'Bitch'_ he thought to himself. He was surprised when he felt her slap him across the face, and even more surprised when she stormed out of the room.

Foreman laughed loudly from his hiding space that he was happy Wendy had yet to find. "That was brave man, calling her a bitch with her standing right there in front of you," he said before leaving once he noticed the angry look on Chase's face.

Chase angrily rubbed his cheek that was searing in pain and watched Foreman leave. Apparently he had said that out loud.

xxxxxx

Wilson had taken his eyes off of House for a split second, barely even that, and he had managed to disappear. For a cripple the guy sure could slink away awful fast. He caught Cuddy's attention and she walked over to him.

"What's wrong?" she asked noticing the nervous look on his face.

Wilson sighed. "I lost House."

Cuddy groaned. "Damn," she said softly before walking away.

xxxxxx

Losing Wilson hadn't been hard. House wasn't stupid. He knew Wilson was watching him. He felt Wilson's eyes on his every time he moved. So when a cute nurse had temporarily distracted Wilson, House seized the opportunity and darted out of the room as quickly as his leg would allow.

He hadn't intentionally been looking for Cameron. Or at least that's what he kept telling himself. But when he found her he was yanked into speechlessness. He could admit that she was breathtaking. He had never denied that. He had known that she'd look beautiful tonight. She had looked beautiful the year before at the poker tournament; this was a fashion show, so of course she was going to look exquisite. If he wanted to get technical, he could admit that she looked beautiful at work every day as well. He loved seeing her in red. He loved the way the color made every other feature she had pop. He loved the confidence the color seemed to bring to her eyes.

He hadn't been able to think about much else other than Cameron since the kiss, and seeing her now wasn't helping matters any. He remembered her pulling him to her by his shoulders. He remembered the intensity in her eyes, locked onto his blue eyes refusing to break contact. He shivered in remembrance of the way her fingers danced across his face trailing down to his lips.

He sucked in a deep breath squashing down the desire to trail his own hands down her arms across her bare shoulders. He decided that she wore the strapless dresses simply to torture him.

He watched her smile at Sebastian Charles and bit back a groan. He had a perfectly clear view of the two of them but couldn't make out what Cameron was saying. But he didn't miss the job offer that slipped from Charles' mouth. He rolled his eyes knowing Cameron wouldn't leave, but his stomach lurched when she smiled happily at Charles.

_"Just promise me you'll think about this. And I mean really think about it. Don't just tell me you will and then don't. Consider it Allison," Sebastian said hopefully.  
_

_Cameron nodded. "OK. I'll think about it," she said looking straight at him. Movement in her peripheral vision caught her attention. Noticing that House was watching, she fumed angrily. He had no right to be eavesdropping on her conversation. Turning her attention back to Sebastian, she smiled warmly at him and kissed him gently on the cheek._

_Ignoring the temporary confusion turned smugness she looked over at the clock and realized it was almost time to go. "I have to go. The show starts soon."_

_"Of course," Sebastian said._

Remembering the Cameron who had been freezing him out since he lied about the cancer, he realized with perfect clarity that he may have pushed her too far. He realized that she might actually leave. And if he hadn't already had that revelation before he would have had it the second he saw her nod and agree to think about it.

He knew the moment she realized he was there. He watched her kiss Charles' cheek and squashed down the hint of jealousy.

He couldn't fathom the anger he was experiencing when she tried to breeze past him without a word. He didn't intentionally reach out for her. But he did. Wrapping his fingers around her wrist firmly, he ignored the nervous twitch in his chest and locked eyes with her. The intensity in her eyes scared the hell out of him. "Gearing up for a safari Cameron?" he asked snidely.

Cameron rolled her eyes and snatched her wrist out of his grasp. She looked like she might finally break, and she knew it. So she did the only thing she knew she could do, she stormed off.

House watched her storm off and tried desperately not to stare at her ass as it swayed. She was almost out of earshot when he yelled after her. "If you want out of your contract, you do realize that you're going to have to talk to me, right?" House groaned when Sebastian walked over to him.

"Polite society frowns upon eavesdropping Dr. House," he snapped.

"Society also frowns upon being a pompous ass but you're still here. I'm betting I'm safe," he said sarcastically.

Charles nodded. "But I have Dr. Cameron's respect."

"And you don't think I do?" House asked shocked. "You can offer her jobs all you want, she's not going anywhere. She has a contract."

Charles shook his head. "Dr. Cuddy can override you if Allison wants out."

House sighed and shook his head. "You don't get it. She won't want out."

"She..."

"She won't leave me," House said confidently.

Charles looked at him closely. "I'm offering her a chance to do some real good here, you honestly think she'd turn that down to stick around for a fellowship that's almost over?"

House smirked. "I never said she wouldn't leave my fellowship. I said me. She won't leave me," House said smirking widely before walking away.


	3. Chapter 3

Chase sat sullenly next to Foreman watching Lizette from across the room. She was talking animatedly to another nurse and kept looking back over in his direction and laughing. Rolling his eyes he turned his attention to Foreman. He watched a flicker of anger flash in Foreman's eyes and looked to follow his gaze. Seeing Wendy walk in and head over towards Lizette he sighed. He was about to speak to Foreman when Cameron breezed past him and sat down next to Foreman, frustration written all over her face. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Cameron looked at him for a minute before answering. "Sebastian offered me a job, and House is a jerk," she said plainly as if it saying it was an every day occurrence.

Chase nodded. "My modeling partner hates me," he said in the same tone.

Foreman shrugged when they both turn their eyes on him. "Wendy thinks that putting on a wedding dress will make me take her back." 

All three of them sighed. As if a gift from above a server walked by with champagne flutes and offered them each one. They all took the glasses and downed the champagne immediately, all three in silent recognition that the night was going to be horrible and it was only just getting started. 

xxxxxx 

The show had only just started and House was already bored. It appeared that they couldn't just get on with it, but they had to talk about Sebastian Charles for twenty minutes beforehand. House rolled his eyes again as he barely listened to Charles talk about his TB patients in Africa. He looked over in the direction of the bar and saw Wilson walking towards him. He groaned in annoyance, but smirked in appreciation when Wilson sat another scotch down in front of him. 

"You know you really shouldn't be this intoxicated already," Wilson chided.

House shrugged and gestured to the scotch. "Well you're enabling me." 

Wilson sighed. "Cuddy wants me to remind you that you are to be on your best behavior." 

House nodded and took a large drink of his scotch. "Yes, Daddy."

"House..."

"Oh stop it. I'm not going to do anything but sit here and watch my fellows pretend to be models. Maybe I'll get lucky and one of them will fall off," he said his eyes twinkling with delight as he finished off his scotch.

Wilson scoffed. "What did you do, House?" 

House shook his head. "I didn't do anything," he said before standing up and walking off. 

Wilson bit his lip in exasperation. "Where are you going?" he called out quietly. He watched House simply shrug before ducking behind a large group of people, and when the people moved House was gone.

"Damn." 

xxxxxx 

"Do you remember what we discussed?" House asked quietly.

"Of course." a female voice said.

"Good." 

"Fifty now..." 

"And fifty later. Right," he nodded. "Now go." 

xxxxxx 

Chase looked at Lizette's angry expression in confusion. "I don't understand why you hate me. I've never done anything to you Lizette. I don't even know you." Chase tried to reason.

Lizette shrugged and adjusted the strap on her Escada dress. "You're not as charming as you think you are." 

"But I haven't tried to charm you..." 

"It's repulsive how many of the nurses you've tried seducing," she replied smoothing the purple layers of her gown. "Even more repulsive is how many you've actually managed to seduce."

Chase opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by another nurse who was working backstage. "Dr. Chase, Lizette, you two are up," she said cheerfully.

Chase smiled. "You ready?" he asked gallantly offering his arm.

Lizette rolled her eyes. "Let's just get this over with," she snapped taking his offered arm.

"You look beautiful tonight by the way," Chase said after they moved into position.

Lizette groaned. "Seriously, I am not interested," she snapped before the walked out on the runway.

xxxxxx 

House had successfully managed to tune out the last ten minutes of the Sebastian Charles show and continue to evade Wilson. He was grateful to the bartender who had clearly not taken Wilson's instructions to stop serving him seriously. But even through his semi-drunken haze he clearly heard the announcer say,

"Dr. Robert Chase."

He immediately sat down at a table that was off to the side but still in front of the runway, ready to absorb anything and everything that could later be used as mocking material against the fair-haired wombat. He had known he wouldn't get anything off of the wardrobe, since it wasn't the first time he has seen Chase in formal wear and also because they were pretty much wearing the same thing.

He glanced over at Lizette and nodded appreciatively. She looked fine. Not overly sexy, or so beautiful he couldn't help but look at her, but fine. He sighed boredly, waiting desperately for the moment Chase would do something embarrassing and then he saw it. Lizette bumped into him causing him to stumble. 

He sat up straighter in his chair as he saw Chase stumble into Lizette. His smile grew wider when Lizette stumbled back into Chase, causing Chase to completely lose his balance. He suppressed a loud laugh when Chase teetered on the edge grabbing for Lizette before toppling over and taking her down with him. 

As several doctors ran towards the fallen pair he heard Lizette's angry voice. "Get off of me you jerk!" 

Chase looked at her incredulously. "You bumped into me." 

"Slightly," she snapped "You aren't coordinated enough to gather your balance?" 

"It's not my fault that the damn runway was slippery." 

"It's your fault for yanking me off of it!" 

"If you wouldn't have pushed me..." 

"You pulled me off the damn runway!" 

House laughed loudly earning several angry glares, including ones from Chase and Lizette. He scoffed and headed back to the bar for a refill. 

xxxxxx 

"The runway is a bit slippery. Dr. Cuddy asked me to tell everyone to walk carefully. Dr. Chase and Nurse Dumont have fallen off already." 

Foreman sighed aggravated. He hadn't been able to get out of playing groom and now there was a chance he could fall off the runway all together. The only bright spot was that now he could make fun of Chase for falling off . His happiness dwindled when he saw Wendy walking towards him, in full bridal attire. He casually overlooked the fact that she was beautiful, in favor of the fact that she was trying to emotionally blackball him into a relationship. Unfortunately, it appeared that his underlying desire not to be with her always seemed to be won over by his attraction to her. He then looked out at the runway and realized that he and Wendy were next. 

"We're next." Wendy said excitedly.

Foreman nodded. "Yeah, thank God." He held out his hand and waited for her take it. When he had her attention he spoke again. "After tonight, I want you to leave me alone." 

"Eric..." 

"I mean it. Stop calling. Stop emailing me. Stop showing up in the Diagnostics Department. I don't want to see you. I don't want to be with you. I don't want to be cruel you, but if I have to be cruel to get my point across then so be it. We're done, Wendy." 

Wendy released his hand momentarily and looked at him closely. She could tell that he really meant what he had said and she couldn't stop the tears from brimming in her eyes. She followed after Foreman onto the runway tears streaming down her face.

xxxxxx 

House had just sat back down with his refill when Foreman and Wendy stepped onto the runway. The look on Foreman's face told House he was just as unhappy with being there as House was. He mentally nodded, thinking that maybe he and Foreman were more alike that he had realized. 

Foreman was walking slowly, careful not to have the same fate as Chase. He turned and looked at Wendy who was standing a few feet behind Foreman crying. Her makeup was running down her face, and her steps were unsteady. It was obvious that Foreman had finally gotten through to her and House couldn't help but feel a sting of regret for helping turn Foreman into the stone man he was becoming.

He watched Wendy finally break down when she caught up with Foreman. Her small silent tears became large loud ones, and she immediately started stepping backwards away from him ignoring the look of anger on Cuddy's face, before completely turning around and leaving the runway altogether. He looked over at Foreman and laughed slightly at his awkward positioning all alone on the runway. He knew that Foreman felt bad for causing her pain. There was enough guilt on Foreman's face to prove to House that Foreman was nothing like him after all.

xxxxxx 

Cameron had watched Chase topple off and Wendy break down, and she knew without a doubt that taking a step onto that runway could be a potentially dangerous mistake. She had been working hard since she had put the dress on to push down the anxiety she felt because of House and Sebastian.

When she heard that she was next, she made a split-second decision to remove her shoes and stepped into place.

"Dr. Cameron, you need shoes." 

Cameron looked at the nurse with a strange look. "If you seriously think I'm going out there in those stilettos only to topple over the side of the runway, you're crazy." Cameron sniped before breezing past her and out onto the runway.

House's laughter at Chase and Foreman's miserable runway attempts died in his throat the second Cameron stepped onto the runway. He knew the announcer was describing the dress but he couldn't hear a word. He found his brain had simply shut down, and he could only stare at the vision in red standing before his eyes. He looked around noticing that there wasn't a single man in the room who wasn't looking at her like they wanted to tear her dress off, and he knew without a doubt that given the opportunity Sebastian Charles would try.

Quelling his anger and jealousy he turned his eyes back to Cameron. She was gliding gracefully down the runway, slowly so not to slip and fall. House thought his heart had stopped when he caught sight of her bare feet. His gaze swooped over each and every one of her perfect toes painted to match her dress perfectly.

The dress fell a few inches above her calves, and House could feel his hands itching to brush themselves up her long legs, and disappear beneath her gown. He looked up from her legs in time to notice she was standing at the end of the runway perfectly still having her picture taken. When she turned her head towards his side of the room, she locked eyes with him. His heart raced at the intensity of her gaze. He felt his palms grow sweaty and his breath catch in his throat. Unable to stand it any longer, he broke the connection first and let his eyes trail downward.

The strapless crimson dress fit tightly around her chest and he could feel his pulse speeding quicker and quicker. She looked like a goddess, and the desire to feel her lips against his again grew to be more than he could stand. He knew he had to get away from her--that he had to get her out of his sight. She turned around and began to walk back to where she had come from. House watched as her ass swayed a little more than necessary. Trying to push down the lump in his throat, the he stood up to leave his table. Right before she left the runway she turned around again and locked eyes with him. But as quick as it happened, it ended and she was backstage again.

xxxxxx

The fashion show portion of the evening was over and Wilson was finding it harder and harder to keep track of House. But, he did know that every time he saw him---his glass of scotch had been refreshed---despite the fact that he'd told the bartender to quit serving him over and hour ago. Sighing in displeasure, he began looking for him again

He smiled politely as several doctors approached him and tried to nonchalantly rush through the conversations they'd initiated. And he did so while discretely trying to keep tabs on House. Finally, he spotted House hiding in a dark alcove and excused himself.  
House saw Wilson head towards him and tried to make a break for it, but the bottle of scotch he'd consumed gave his reflexes a lethargic "sloshing" feeling. He groaned in realization that he'd be forced to talk to Wilson and then again when he saw the annoyed look on his face. "What's up James?" he asked casually.

Wilson shot him a look cold enough to freeze ice. "What do you mean what's up? Stop disappearing on me House!"

House clicked his tongue disapprovingly. "Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy... How many times do I have to tell you? This is not a date." House joked, "Besides, I'm not two. You don't have to chase me around."

Wilson rolled his eyes. "Maybe if you'd quit acting like a two-year old I wouldn't feel the need to babysit you!" Wilson snapped ignoring the gay joke House had made.

"I wasn't aware that I needed a babysitter. I promise Dad, I've been on my best behavior."

Wilson scoffed. "Please you don't just need a babysitter, you need a full time nanny." He watched House nod and sway slightly as he did so. "You have more scotch in you than the whole damn bar. You need to go home and sleep it off, House."

House shook his head. "No, James. Cuddy would have my head on a platter if I left..."

"If you ruin this evening for her what do you think she would do?"

"I'm not going to ruin the event. I mean, after all, TB is a very serious disease, and we should be working harder to prevent it..."

Wilson laughed. "You don't give a damn about TB."

House nodded. "You're right. It's a very boring disease."

"You just think you're going to somehow be able to make Sebastian Charles squirm. It's not going to happen House. Go home."

House rolled his eyes bored already. He brought his glass up to his mouth and drank the remaining liquid then looked at the empty glass sadly. He then scanned the room, his eyes settling on Cameron slow dancing in Charles' arms.

Wilson noticed a frown on House's face and sighed. "What are you looking at?" he asked curiously.

House shook his head. "Nothing."

Wilson nodded. "Yeah right. Are Cuddy's breasts popping out of her dress again or something?" Wilson quipped. When House didn't comment on his quip, he followed House's gaze. "Oh that's what you're looking at." he stated merrily after seeing Cameron. He turned back around expecting to see House scowling; but instead, all he saw was a deeper frown. Wilson sighed sadly. "You know, if you would just stop denying her, she'd be dancing with you instead of him."

"I don't want to dance with her," House snapped angrily.

"But you don't want her to dance with him..."

"I could care less who she dances with," House interrupted.

"I know you could care _less_ House, that's the problem. You care _more_."

House scowled into his empty glass. "You don't know what you're talking about Wilson."

"She's the only one still not speaking to you. It's driving you crazy isn't it?" Wilson inquired.

House shot Wilson a look that clearly said 'Leave me the hell alone' and walked off. Wilson sighed again and headed after him. 


	4. Chapter 4

House had successfully evaded Wilson again when Cuddy had stopped Wilson and asked him to dance. He knew Wilson had tired to keep his sight set on him, but it appeared that Wilson's intentions with House were no match for his desire to look at Cuddy's ample cleavage when given the chance. Remembering to mock him later on, he also took advantage of the opportunity that had presented itself and bolted.

He glanced back in the direction of Cameron and Charles and glared angrily, even though no one was paying him attention. He couldn't get the look she had given him at the end of the runway out of his head. With that one look, she had made him nervous and the fluttering in his stomach told him just the memory of it had the same effect.

Shaking his head, he glanced around looking for Chase. He had laughed so hard when Chase had fallen off of the runway; and, Lizette toppling over with him had merely been collateral damage.

He scanned the room, his eyes seeking Lizette purposefully. Finally spotting her, he walked towards her and sat down at a table directly behind her seat. He used his cane and tapped her ankle with it gaining her attention. When she looked up at him, he gestured discretely for her to follow him. He then stood up and led her to a secluded area. Once they were out of sight, he looked around and made sure that no one had followed them and pulled out his wallet. "Knocking Chase off the runway was a nice touch, don't you think?"

Lizette scowled at him. "No."

"Oh come on. It was priceless."

"You're not funny Dr. House," she snapped.

House rolled his eyes. "Now, I know you going over hadn't been part of the original plan, but I'm not the one that shoved you over so don't get snippy with me," he told her before handing her the fifty dollar bill. "You did good kiddo."

Lizette squinted her eyes in anger. "I want more money." she said her voice firm and determined.

House smiled. "Oh no. There will be none of that."

"I fell off the runway!" she hissed quietly.

House nodded. "I know. And it was funny---much funnier than just Chase falling off. But it wasn't part of the plan. Nor was it my fault. And I'm certainly not going to pay for it."

"I could have been seriously injured..."  
"But you weren't. I paid you one hundred dollars to not listen to that pea-sized brain all of you nurses must possess, to continually fall for Dr. Chase and Dr. Wilson, and treat Chase like crap for the entire night. I paid you to push him off the runway discretely. I did not, however, pay you to go over the runway yourself. If you wanted hazard pay, you should have checked that teeny tiny little box on the contract that said, 'Yes I would like to collect hazard pay should Robert Chase pull me over with him'."

"We didn't have a contract you drunk idiot," Lizette snapped.

House smirked. "Well there you go Lizette, you should have signed a contract," he said before walking off and leaving her alone in the hallway.

xxxxxx

After talking with Lizette, House was filled with a strong desire to drink. He headed back to the bar and ordered another scotch. He had just received his drink when Cameron and Charles walked up to the far side of the bar.

He observed her quietly while she spoke animatedly to Charles, a smiled fixed on her face. He, however, had been too busy watching her to notice that although she was still talking to Charles, Charles was looking straight at him.

"Is there something we can help you with Dr. House?" Charles asked interrupting Cameron's story.

House glared and then scrunched his face up in thought. "Well, there is one thing. Tell me something Dr. Charles."

"What's that?"

"How many of your TB patients had to die for you to be here tonight?"

Charles rolled his eyes. "You're a bastard you know that?"

Cameron shot House a look of disgust and placed her hand on Charles' shoulder. "He knows it," she said talking to Charles while looking at House.

"Do you always have to be so inappropriate?" Sebastian asked.

"Come on now. I thought you were supposed to be smart. You should know the answer to that." He looked at Cameron for a moment simply watching her watch him as he swiftly drank his drink. "Hey, can I talk to you?" he asked gently after swallowing the last of the liquid.

Cameron looked at the ground and back up to him. She was surprised by the gentleness in his voice. She wanted to talk to him, that much she knew. And she knew it was time to give in and stop acting like the two-year old she consistently berated him for acting like, but she didn't know what to say, and she was worried about what he could possibly want to talk about.

The entire room seemed to fall silent, as if they were all waiting to see if she would finally break her silence. A long moment passed before she finally broke eye contact with House and looked back to the floor. "No," she muttered before turning to Sebastian, "Will you dance with me?"

Sebastian Charles looked at House smugly. "Of course I'll dance with you Allison," he said taking her hand and then to House he added, "I'm sure we'll talk again tonight Dr. House." before leading both himself and Allison away from him.

House watched her walk off with Charles solemnly. He was happy that she had finally spoken to him, but he couldn't help but frown at her rejection. The look on her face had shook him to the core and sent a chill down his spine. Suddenly feeling far too sober, he turned back to the bartender and ordered a double.

xxxxxx

House walked away from the bar no happier than when he had arrived. The bartender had finally heeded Wilson's instructions and quit serving him. He guessed he'd just have to have his fun some other way.

He looked over in Chase's direction and snickered, seeing that the younger man was attempting to smooth things over with Lizette. House sauntered over to their direction just in time to see Lizette smile at Chase in a way that was not in concurrence with their arrangement. It seemed to him that the fair-haired duckling was succeeding in earning the nurse's admiration. House scowled at Lizette's blatant discord in the plan and decided she needed to be taught what happens when you double cross him. Seeing the glass of punch in Chase's hand he smiled as the plan formulated instantly.

Chase reached out to offer Lizette a drink and when he did, House bumped into him sending the punch down the front of Lizette's dress. The look of horror on her face told him that his plan had worked perfectly. "Wombat, you got her all wet. Score!" he quipped before heading away from Lizette's angry glares and screams.

xxxxxx

"It wasn't my fault!" Chase snapped "House bumped..."

"Dr. House is drunk. And a cripple. Of course he bumped into you!" she yelled. She had clearly understood House's message. She wouldn't deviate from the plan again.

"Lizette..." Chase said pleadingly as he attempted to blot the liquid out of her dress  
"Don't you Lizette me..." she snarled before slapping his hands away from her dress. "You should have had a better grip. My Escada dress is ruined. Get the hell away from me!"

xxxxxx

"I saw what you did," came a voice from behind House.

House turned around and looked at Wendy. She had taken off the wedding dress and had replaced it with a black strapless ankle length dress. It was completely simple, and House was slightly impressed that she had pulled it off. "You know, if you had walked out in that earlier, Foreman probably wouldn't have made you cry," he said feeling slightly bad for her. "Now, what did you see me do?"

Wendy scowled at him and ignored the comment about Foreman. "You dumped that punch on her on purpose."

"And?"

"And, I saw the way you were looking at Sebastian Charles when he was dancing with Dr. Cameron."

"Are you stalking me Wendy?" House asked jokingly.

"Are you really so bitter that you would deny everyone the satisfaction of being happy? First Eric, then Dr. Cameron, and now Dr. Chase and Lizette. What the hell is wrong with you!?"

House shook his head. "I had nothing to do with Foreman breaking up with you."

"He's so busy trying to be your protégée on the clock he doesn't realize that he's turning into you off the clock as well," Wendy said sadly before storming off. 

House glared at Wendy as she stormed down the hallway for a moment before yelling out for her attention and following after her. "Hey!"

"What?" Wendy snapped venomously.

"The next time you want to vent, do it somewhere else. I couldn't care less about your failed romance with Foreman. Maybe you should look at the stunt you pulled tonight. Setting him up to be the groom to your bride? That was priceless. You wonder why he looks at you like you're a psycho."

"Excuse me?" Wendy asked cautiously, her eyes squinted tightly.

"You heard me. What were you hoping to accomplish tonight? What did you think was going to happen? He'd take one look at you in the wedding dress and decide he was wrong after all. That what he wanted most in life was spending all his days loving you. Wake up Wendy. He's done with you."

"House." Foreman snapped from behind him.

House turned around to look at Foreman. "Yeah?" 

Foreman shook his head at the obvious lack of regret House exhibited. "Don't you think you've done enough here? You have no right talking to her like that."

House rolled his eyes. "Bros before hoes man..." 

"You son of a..." Wendy said angrily. 

"Hey now, my Mom is a fantastic woman. Don't insult her," House snapped back defensively.

Foreman rolled his eyes. "You two are acting like two-year olds."

"Hey, I'm drunk. I have an excuse." House quipped.

"House..." Foreman started.

"I know. I know. Go annoy someone else," House said patronizingly. "This isn't fun anymore anyway. Wendy's easy---" House said wriggling his eyebrows before adding, "to rile up." and sauntering off back into the main room again.

Wendy looked at Foreman graciously. "Thank you Eric."

Foreman looked at her softly for a moment. "You should leave House alone. He knows what buttons to push, and he'll do it for no reason other than his enjoyment." 

Wendy stepped closer to him and took his hand in hers. "It means a lot that you defended me Eric." 

Foreman sighed and pulled his hand out of hers. "No, it doesn't. And it doesn't change anything. I still don't want to be with you. Just because I stopped him from attacking you, doesn't make him any less right," Foreman said before walking away and leaving Wendy standing there alone in the hallway. 

xxxxxx 

Cameron hadn't seen House in a while and she had decided that was a good thing. House was obviously miserable about being here and was taking it out on everyone else. The fact that he was also drunk wasn't going to help matters any either.

Her hope that he had gone home died when she saw him walk into the room again. Sighing, she turned back to Sebastian hoping House wouldn't make a scene.

xxxxxx

"Dr...

"I know what Dr. Wilson told you, just give me a damn scotch." House snapped at the bartender.

"Dr. Cuddy was the one that asked me to quit serving you." the bartender informed him.

House rolled his eyes angrily and stormed away from the bar. He then had a thought and headed back around to the bar.

Chase watched House walk back towards the bar, looking ready to give the bartender a piece of his mind, and headed over to him. "What is wrong with you!" 

"You mean besides the fact that the bartender quit serving me?" House asked tiredly.

"You made me dump my drink on her." 

"I don't care." he said before walking off.

Chase followed. "What is your problem?" 

"At the moment---you, and the fact that my glass is still empty." he replied snidely before trying to walk off again. House hadn't counted on Chase grabbing his arm preventing him from moving. House looked around and quickly surmised that most of the room was watching them, including Cameron and Charles.

"I was trying to apologize for pulling her off the runway." 

"Again Chase, I don't care," House said agitated by the fact that Chase was still holding his arm. "Let me go," he requested his tone icy.

Chase shook his head. "Why don't you just go home?" 

House had finally had enough and pushed Chase off of him. Chase stumbled backwards and landed hard against Sebastian Charles. "I said let me go."

(Anger) 

Cameron stepped around them all and headed to the bar and then headed back towards House. She thrust the scotch into his hand. "Here. Now stop acting like a jerk," she said angrily before turning back to Chase.

"Are you ok?"

"So now you'll talk to me?" House spit out loudly, "When it's time to reprimand me." 

"House stop it," she snipped.

"It's just a question, Dr. Cameron. You're pissed when I don't want to talk to you, then when I want to--you won't..." 

"Because I'm angry with you, you jackass!" she yelled not caring that she was still in a ballroom full of people.

House looked around and noticed the people in the room staring and grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the room, despite her requests to let her go, into the hallway he had used for his clandestine meeting with Lizette. She was going to talk to him now whether she wanted to or not. "What are you so angry about?" he hissed now that they had some privacy.

Cameron squinted her eyes in contempt. "You aren't seriously asking me that are you? You know why I'm angry! You can't be that drunk!"

"Because I faked cancer? Or because I don't actually have cancer? Which is it?"

Cameron rolled her eyes. "You don't honestly think I wanted you to have cancer do you?"

House scowled. "I think that as long as I was dying, you thought you had a shot with me. That you could help me live out my last year in happiness." 

Cameron looked at him closely. "I think that's what you wanted me to think. That's why you kissed me."

"Excuse me?" 

"You kissed me!" Cameron snapped.

House shook his head vehemently. "Back up little missy, _you,_ not me, _you _kissed _me_!"

"But _you _kissed me back!" she screamed, "You held me in your arms and you kissed me like..."

"Like I was dying?" House interrupted. "Newsflash Cameron…you thought I was dying! So did you ever stop to think for one second that maybe that's what I was going for? Did you honestly think that I let you kiss me because of some deep dark repressed feelings; because I wanted you? Even you can't be that deluded. I knew you were naïve, but I didn't know you were stupid."

Cameron stopped breathing for a moment and the air around them stood still. She reached out and slapped him hard across the face.

House placed his hand on his cheek for a moment in shock. "You hit me."

Cameron nodded. "You're a bastard."

"I'm your boss."  
"That doesn't make you less of a bastard."

"You hit me," House repeated.

"What are you stuck on repeat?" she asked rolling her eyes in annoyance, "Stop whining, you deserved it. In fact, you've had it coming for years."

House's gaze turned icy. "You're fired."

"Don't bother. I quit." Cameron said turning on her heel and leaving.

House rubbed his cheek gently and looked around to see if there had been any witnesses to their actual tantrum and not the one in the ballroom. Sighing once, he was satisfied that it had gone unnoticed he headed back towards to lobby to tell Cuddy he was leaving. He turned the corner and groaned when he saw Wilson. He mentally crossed his fingers in hopes that he hadn't been there the entire time, but the look on Wilson's face told him it was pointless. He knew that he had heard every word.

"How could you do that to her?" Wilson asked his voice laced with disgust.

House shook his head. "I'm not in the mood James."

"We're having this conversation Greg." 

"No, we're really not," House said moving to leave again. "You shouldn't have followed us."

"You kissed her House!" Wilson yelled stopping him in his tracks.

House turned around slowly. "No, you must have gone temporarily deaf, because she kissed me."

"And you let her! You let her kiss you knowing full well that you weren't dying! You didn't even have the decency to tell her, to reassure her that it wasn't happening to her again!"

"What..."

"Did you forget that her husband died from cancer?"

_Hell, I did. _"Of course not," House said mentally kicking himself because he had.

"She was terrified. She thought she was going to lose another man she loved to cancer!"

"Oh shut up. She doesn't love me..."

"You really think that don't you? Or is it something you tell yourself so that you can sleep easier at night? She's right you know you are a bastard!"

House rolled his eyes. "Stop it Jimmy, she's not here to hear your declarations, and I could care less," he said before limping away.

Wilson sighed and called out after him. "You know you're going to lose her right? She'll go with Charles this time, if you don't fix this!"

House turned around again. "No she won't. She's too hopeful."

Wilson rolled his eyes. "Yes she will, and the only person you'll have to blame is yourself. But hey, at least that pride of yours will remain perfectly intact."

xxxxxx

House spotted Cuddy almost instantly. "I'm leaving," he said blandly.

"Did you do it?!" Cuddy demanded sharply.

House furrowed his brow in confusion. "Did I do what?"

"Did you grease the runway?"

"Did I what?" House asked in faux shock. "Why would I want to grease the runway?"

Cuddy threw him a look of contempt. "I don't know how your warped mind works. Maybe you thought it would be funny to watch your colleagues topple off a runway."

House smiled inwardly despite his annoyance. He knew that it really did sound like something he would do; and honestly, he was surprised he hadn't thought of it first. "And it was, but I didn't do it."

"I don't believe you," Cuddy said before storming off.

House watched her walk off and then did the same.


	5. Chapter 5

Sitting alone in his apartment that night had given him plenty of time to think. Wilson had been right. Cameron was going to leave if he didn't fix this. The problem was he didn't know how to fix it. She was angry and she had a right to be.

House sighed and filled another glass of scotch before bringing it to his lips. The cab ride home had been far too sobering and he was in need of a pick me up, because if he didn't get some alcohol in his system he knew the events of the night would come back to him. 

The vision of Cameron looking gorgeous in that red dress. The bone chilling looks between the two of them when she made eye contact with him on the runway. The feel of her skin beneath his when he dragged her out into the hallway. The rush of emotions when she had slapped him. And the look of contempt on her face when she quit. None of them were memories he wanted to relive. 

The knowledge that she rarely said something she didn't mean was enough to depress him. He sighed sadly and poured another drink. If he was going to be depressed over Cameron, he surely didn't want to remember it. 

xxxxxx 

Morning came quickly and House's pager rattled from beside him. He reached over for his Vicodin and swallowed two before sitting up. His hangover was bad, but he knew the Vicodin would take care of it as well. Deciding that he had some damage control to take care of he reached out and picked up his phone to answer Cuddy's page.

xxxxxx 

(Bargaining)

An hour later, he found himself entering the hospital. Groaning as he noticed everyone watching him, he immediately headed up to the Diagnostic Department. He had expected to be alone and not to see Cameron, but the second he walked up he could see her through the glass walls. House watched her pack her belongings sadly. "What are you doing?"

Cameron looked at him confused. "You fired me."

"Come on, you know I didn't mean it."

Cameron sighed. "I also quit. And I did mean that," Cameron said going back to packing.

House walked over to her and grabbed her arm stopping her. "You can't take this job, Allison. You can't go to Africa with Sebastian Charles."

"Why not?" she asked "Give me one reason why I shouldn't, House."

"Because you'll be miserable."  
Cameron shook her head. "You don't know that."

"I do. I do know that. If you leave this hospital and get on that plane you'll be making a huge mistake."

"House..."

"What will it take to keep you here? A raise? More benefits? You're own office? A parking space?"

"Those things didn't work the last time I quit. What makes you think they'll work this time?" 

"Then what? A date?"

"House..." she snapped displeasingly.

"Damn it Allison, what will it take? What do you want? Name it and it's yours."

Cameron sighed sadly and shook her head. "You can't give me what I want, Greg."

House clenched his hands into fists before sighing angrily. "And Sebastian Charles can?"

"Maybe. At least he can give me something."

"And I can't? Is that it?"

"NO. It's not that you can't. It's that you won't. You won't give me anything," she said sadly.

House stood silent unable to move, unable to think. His silence was damning.

"Can you honestly tell me that if I stayed something would change?" Cameron pleaded.

House still stood silent. His brain trying desperately to form the words she needed to hear.

Cameron shook her head. "I didn't think so. Goodbye Greg," she said walking towards the exit. She stopped and turned back to face him. "I'll miss you." she said softly. "You have no idea how much I'll miss you." she said before leaving.

House finally broke out of his stupor after she left. "I'll miss you too," he said softly. 

xxxxxx 

(Depression)

House walked down to the clinic sadly. He had known there was a chance she'd actually leave. He had admitted it to himself the night before, but that didn't mean he actually thought she'd really leave.  
He didn't even have the heart to give the nurses a hard time on his way into Exam Room One. He simply grabbed a chart, called the patient and led them back.

Denial

He was in the room for all of two minutes with the patient before Wilson barged in. "I'm terribly sorry to interrupt," he directed at the patient before turning to House, "Can I borrow you for a second?"

House knew what he wanted to talk about. "I'm with a patient." he said mechanically.

Wilson rolled his eyes and pulled House to the corner of the room. "So guess what I found when I went in to see Cuddy about five minutes ago."

"I'm guessing a puppy."

"Close. Dr. Cameron."

"She's more like a teddy bear than a puppy."

"You let her quit!" Wilson snapped.

"I didn't let her do anything. She made her own decisions. The fact that she stuck to them was also her decision. I rescinded her termination and she still chose to leave."

"You let her go!"

"I asked her stay!" House yelled loudly.

Wilson shrunk back. "You what?"

"I asked her to stay. I didn't want her to go. I offered her everything I could to stay. She turned it down. Now get out so I can treat my patient." House ordered.

Wilson sighed. "I told you this would happen. I told you that you'd lose her. That she'd get tired of waiting for you to make up your mind about what you want."

"Out!"

"She's in love with you. She would have stayed for the right reason."

"I'm not going to marry her just so she'll stick around and be my favorite immunologist." 

"She wasn't asking you to marry her, House. She was asking you to quit treating her like crap."

"I don't treat her like crap. If anything I treat her with more respect than the other two." House defended.

"No, you treat Foreman with respect and Chase with disdain. But Cameron, you disconnect so you don't have to treat her one way or another. You keep thinking that if you don't acknowledge her she'll go away." 

"It worked didn't it? She's gone." 

"But not because you ignored her. Because you lied to her. You let her believe you were dying House!" 

"That was an accident..." 

"You knew though! You knew and you never once set her straight! Do you have any idea what she, what they all went through trying to save you?" 

"I told them to stay out of it. I told them not to worry about me." 

Wilson shook his head angrily. "And you thought that was enough?" 

"I..." 

"You what? Unless you said to her 'Cameron I'm not dying. Don't worry about me.' it's not good enough House." he yelled furiously. 

"Look James..." 

"And the kiss, House! What was with the kiss? Why would you let her kiss you! What is wrong with you!" 

"Have you seen Allison Cameron. You'd be asking me the same question if hadn't let her kiss me." 

Wilson looked away from House trying to regain his composure and saw the patient. "I'm sorry, this was an inappropriate conversation to have in front of you. Excuse me," he said before exiting.

House turned back to the patient, a young girl of about twenty years and frowned. "What's wrong with you?" 

"Didn't you read my chart?" 

"Did you see me read your chart?" 

"No."

"Then from that we could draw the conclusion that I don't care about your chart. Now I repeat, What's wrong with you?"

"Was Dr. Cameron your girlfriend?" 

"No." 

"Was she your lover?" 

"No." 

"You seem awful sad that she's gone." 

"And you've concluded that from the two-minute conversation I had with Dr. Wilson?" he snapped annoyed, "Now what are you doing in my exam room?"

"I have a cough." 

"You haven't coughed once since you've been in here," House stated plainly.

"It comes and goes." 

House nodded. "You have a cough that comes and goes." 

"Exactly." 

House sighed. "You know..." 

"If you didn't want her to leave then why didn't you make her stay." 

"Listen kid..." 

"I mean, it's obvious you care about her. I don't even know you or her and I can tell." 

"I don't..." 

"Did you really let her think you were dying?" 

"Is that any of your business?" 

"That's pretty cruel. Especially if the two of you are in love with each other." 

"I'm not in love with Dr. Cameron." 

"But you kissed her?" 

"Yes." 

"Why?" 

"Because she's hot," House snapped. "Are you actually sick?" 

The girl sighed. "I had a chemistry lab this morning. I didn't go. I needed a doctors excuse," she admitted.

House sighed. "Come on," he said leading her to the nurse's desk. "Write Ms..." House paused to look at her chart, "Parker an absentee note please." 

The nurse behind the desk nodded and began to do so as House walked away. "Thank you," the girl called out.

House ignored her and headed back towards the exam room. "Dr. House do you want another patient?" Nurse Brenda called out.

"No," he shouted before shutting and locking the door. He wanted to be alone to brood. 

xxxxxx

(Acceptance)

Somewhere between winning level 15 and 16 on his Game Boy, House stopped denying the simple fact that he had pushed Cameron away. All she had wanted was to know that something was going to change between the two of them. And even he couldn't deny that something already had. He would never be able to look at her the same after the kiss. He had already had trouble looking at her after the poker tournament when he'd seen her in that red dress without feeling somewhat flustered, but now after the kiss all he could think of was what it would be like to do it again. What it would feel like to feel her skin flush against his own.

Now she was gone, and it would never happen. She'd move to Africa and take Sebastian Charles' job offer. Charles would get to hold her hand, and kiss her lips and make love to her every night. They'd probably fall in love, get married, have a few children, and then die old together.

House sighed sadly running his hand through his hair. Cameron falling in love with him had been unexpected. He hadn't hired her for that reason. He hadn't wanted her to do it, and he certainly had never wanted to reciprocate any of the feelings she had for him. He got scared after their trip to see Gravedigger when he realized that he'd actually had fun with her, and hadn't wanted the night to end.

He had purposely sabotaged their date when they had gone to Café Spilleto. He had known she was excited about it. It was why she couldn't keep her mouth shut about it to the rest of the hospital. And he had been nervous. And when she had given him the opportunity to kill the date he took it.

The first time Sebastian Charles came to Princeton, he could feel her slipping away. It was an irrational problem. He had wanted her to stop caring about him, but when he was faced with it he didn't like it one bit. He hadn't liked seeing her holding Charles' hand when he walked in the room, and he certainly didn't like to see Charles' dancing and holding her now.

The night of the poker tournament she had walked in the room and literally taken his breath away. He couldn't remember what he had been saying or thinking. All he knew was she was beautiful and he couldn't tear his eyes away from her. And then when Foreman had purposely exposed her to the disease they couldn't diagnose he had joked about her shooting Foreman, but in reality he had wanted to do it himself.

His hallucination was something entirely different. He hadn't been able to see her the same way again. She had been the first thing he had seen when he woke up in the hallucination and when he came out of his hallucination. He was disappointed when he'd woken up from the Ketamine treatment and she hadn't been there. He'd allowed himself to entertain the idea of him and Cameron together until she had shot him down when he'd come back to work.

But he was still unable to treat her the same. When she had helped Ezra Powell die if it had been Foreman or Chase who had done it he never would have sought them out. But he did for her. He had to let her know he was proud of her. He took as many opportunities to sit near her as he could. He was always standing over her...always watching her.

She had been on his side when Tritter had went after him and had even stood up to Wilson about it. He knew the reason why she refused to go to his trial was because she couldn't bare to see him go to prison if it had gone the other way. 

But then he had faked the cancer. He had hurt her badly. He knew it. He also knew he'd never get the kiss out of his mind. Shaking his head and pulling himself out of his self reflection, he closed the Game Boy and turned it off. He quickly began gathering his stuff and then left the hospital. He had to see her. 

xxxxxx 

Cameron was sitting on her couch when a knock on her door pulled her out of her thoughts. She walked over to it and looked out the peep hole. Smiling, she opened the door and let Sebastian in. "Come in." 

"Thank you." he said happily entering the apartment.

Cameron closed the door behind him. "How are you?" 

"I'm fine." 

"So last night was interesting." 

Sebastian nodded. "Yeah. House sure knows how to make a scene." 

Cameron nodded. "Yeah." 

"So have you decided on my job offer?" 

Cameron sighed. "I don't know." 

"House told me that you wouldn't take it. That you wouldn't want to leave him," Charles prodded, "which I of course think is ridiculous..."

"I don't want to leave him," Cameron stated interrupting him.

Charles looked at her closely. "Then why did you quit?" 

"I can't keep going the way I'm going. I don't want to hate him. If I stay and things stay the way they are, I will."

Charles was about to speak when a knock sounded on the door. "Excuse me." Cameron said moving to open it. She didn't even bother with the peep hole, she knew who it was. No one knocked the way House did. She opened the door and sighed. "I'm really not in the mood for round two right now House." 

House moved past her anyway. "So I was thinking..." he started but stopped when he saw Charles. "Oh. I'm interrupting something." 

"Yeah. You are," Charles said smugly.

Cameron shot Charles a look of aggravation. "No you're not. Why are you here?"

House shot Cameron a look and then looked back to Charles. "Can we have a moment?" 

Cameron took one look at House's face and nodded. "Sebastian why don't you go in the kitchen and make some coffee. It's right there," she said pointing to the kitchen. "We're just going to go in the living room," she said leading House that way.

House followed her, smiling at the fact that she had chosen him over Charles again. 

"So you've been thinking?" Cameron asked.

House nodded, suddenly nervous. He had the words in his head but he couldn't get them out. 

"House? If you're just going to stand there then..." 

"I don't want you to go." House said suddenly. 

Cameron sighed. "We've been over this House. You won't give me what I need."

"What if I do?" House asked.

Cameron stopped breathing for a moment. "What?" she asked when she had finally recovered.

"I've been denying you for years and I can't keep doing it. I care about you. I care about you more than I ever wanted to." 

"House..." 

"When I was shot I had a hallucination."

"Ok." 

"About you," House admitted.

Cameron looked at him closely. "About me?" 

House nodded. He had told Wilson about the hallucination, but never the part that involved Cameron. "In my hallucination, when I woke up you were the first thing I saw. You'd been there the entire time I was out. And when I came out of the hallucination you were still the first thing I saw."

Tears filled Cameron's eyes. "I was so scared that day." 

House nodded. "I know you were. When he shot me I remember thinking that at least he had known who you were because he could have shot you, and it would have been my fault." 

"House..." 

"I tried to push you away. I tried to kill any chance we had two years ago and you wouldn't let me. You kept pushing and pushing..." 

"I..." 

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for so many things. I'm sorry for pushing you away. I'm sorry for hurting you. And I am so unbelievably sorry about the cancer stunt. I hadn't intended for any of you to find out, especially you. But you did, and I should have told you but I couldn't. And then you kissed me." House said pausing to wipe tears off her face, "You kissed me and for a moment I thought I could have what I wanted for a change. So I kissed you back. Because I wanted to kiss you back. If you leave now, nothing will ever be the same. Not for you and certainly not for me." 

Cameron smiled. "I shouldn't have gone for the needle." 

"If you hadn't gone and tried to take that needle, I still would have stopped it." 

"But..." 

"Make no mistake I wouldn't have wanted to. But I would have." 

"I don't understand." 

"You asked me today to tell you that if you stayed something would change. Things have been changing from the day we met. And if you stay I promise things will keep changing. I don't want you to go." 

Cameron just stood watching him, not making a sound. 

"I mean who's going to make my coffee? You're the only one who knows where the sugar is." He said watching Cameron smile. "Who's going to push me to diagnose people I don't even want to treat?" 

"That's all well and good House, but what about me? You say you don't want to change your coffee routine, but what about me? Everything you say you'll miss can be accomplished by hiring a secretary. And seriously I can tell you where the sugar is." 

House sighed. "You're not funny." 

"I'm not trying to be. I'm just asking questions. This new found revelation of yours has come from nowhere." 

"I'm trying to tell you that it hasn't." 

"No, you're telling me why having me around makes your life easier, not better." 

House sighed in frustration. "I know exactly what I want to say, I know exactly how I want it to come across. I just can't pull it out of my head." 

"House..." 

"What am I supposed to do if you're gone Allison? I can't explain it to you. I only know that I'll be miserable if you leave." 

Cameron looked at House trying to read the expression on his face. The only thing she could come up with was genuine pain. A tear slipped from her eye and she went to open her mouth and speak but they were interrupted by Sebastian. "Allison?" 

Cameron heard him but she never let her eyes leave House's. "Can we maybe finish this tomorrow Sebastian?" she said not even looking at him.

Charles sighed and picked up his jacket. He knew that he had lost her when she hadn't even looked at him while asking him to leave. "I'll call you tomorrow." 

Cameron and House barely acknowledged the door shutting . Cameron could see House struggling to maintain eye contact but was surprised when he looked to the floor and didn't look back up. "You'll be miserable?" Cameron questioned.

House still locked his eyes to the floor. "Come on it was hard enough to say the first time and now you want me to repeat it?" 

Cameron scoffed. "You've put me through a lot House. You've been denying me for years. And I realize that someday you'll hold this moment against me for making you admit what you're feeling, but I need to hear it. I need to hear it because if I don't I'm going to have to move on. I can't keep standing still with you. This boat either needs to move forward or I'm getting off."

House looked up at her for a moment. "Remember when I told you there were five stages of death." 

"Yeah." 

"Denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance." 

"I know the five stages of death, House." 

"I've been watching my pride die for years. _Denial_. I've been denying you since the day I met you. I denied that I was jealous when you slept with Chase. I denied it when Wilson told me I liked you. And despite the fact that I'm trying pour my heart out to you a part of me is still denying that all I really want to do is kiss you."

Cameron smiled. "I don't think you need to go into specifics with the _Anger _portion."

House smiled back. "No I don't think so. _Bargaining _though, I've been trying to make deals with myself and you. Bargaining with you to come back to work both times you've left. Bargaining with myself that if I keep ignoring what I feel, I won't end up like I did when Stacy left when you inevitably leave."

"I'm not Stacy House." Cameron pointed out.

House nodded. "I know you're not." he said softly. "I'm not good enough for you Cameron."

"Yes you are."

House shook his head. "No I'm not. And I never will be. And not only am I not good enough for you, I'm not good for you period. You deserve someone ten times better than me. You deserve someone who's not addicted to Vicodin. Someone who can run with you. Someone who won't drive you to the brink of misery and poke at you until you want to run screaming in the other direction. I know I'm going to end up hurting you. And that knowledge is enough to make anyone depressed---hence, the _Depression _stage."

Cameron reached out and grabbed his hand. "I don't need someone who can run with me. I don't even really like running. I'd rather have someone to walk beside me and be there when I need them." 

"Is that what you told your dying husband to comfort him too?" 

"No... it's what I'm telling you." Cameron said forcefully, "I don't care about your disability, House! I love you. Nothing you can do is going to change that. Even if I'm in Africa, I'm still going to love you. I've tried not to. I've tried to hate you. It doesn't work. It won't ever work. You can say you're not good enough for me if you want to, but all you're doing is hiding. Hiding from me, hiding from how you feel about me."

House looked up at her, her words paralyzing him. He couldn't move, he couldn't speak and he could hardly breathe. He knew that if he said anything right now it would ruin everything. He had a choice. He knew that much. He could do what he always did and just let her go or he could accept that she loved him and that despite his best efforts he had fallen for her as well. He barely had time to choose before his body reacted. Using the hand she was still gripping, he yanked her closer to him; then, he cupped her cheek with his other and pressed his lips against hers.

She responded instantly, deepening the kiss while pulling him as close to her as she could get him. Her fingers tangled in his hair as he expertly worked his lips over hers. She couldn't ever remember anything feeling as perfect as this kiss. Her lungs burned for oxygen by the time he pulled his lips away. 

Their foreheads touched as House sucked in a quick breath of oxygen and closed his eyes. His deep voice rumbled softly, "The last stage of death..." 

"_Acceptance_." Cameron muttered in response.

"And Charles' job offer?" 

Cameron smiled. "I'm not going anywhere." 

"Fantastic." House murmured before pulling her back to him. His lips quickly found hers again, and Cameron's wasted no time inviting him in. Their tongues tangled with lazy sensuousness as House began pulling her towards the couch. He felt her moan deep within his body as he pressed her back against the couch.

Her hands slowly caressed and found their way beneath his shirt. Her fingers examining each finely toned inch of his chest before breaking the kiss to pull his shirt off. She let out a hiss of pleasure as his lips claimed a spot on her neck and his own hands had made their way beneath her shirt. 

House trailed slow kisses down her neck. He could feel her pulse racing as his lips pressed against her pulse point. Reaching to remove her shirt he nearly came unglued when she moaned '_Greg_ ' as his hand grazed her breast. 

Cameron pulled him back to her in a sweltering kiss designed to leave them both breathless as she moved her hands back down his chest and over his firm stomach to rest on the button of his jeans. She was about to undo it when he pulled away suddenly.

"What's wrong?" 

House smiled warmly. "Nothing." he said leaning down to kiss her gently. He pulled back to look at her and all he saw were her half-lidded eyes filled with passion and want. "This place have a bed somewhere in it?" he asked pulling her up off the couch with him. 

Cameron nodded and was about to tell him where when House pulled her in for another kiss, this time removing the elastic band which secured her pony tail. "I like your hair better down," he whispered huskily, his hot breath trailing across her slender, alabaster neck.

Cameron leaned back to look at him for a moment. The air around them sizzled with electricity, and all she could see was his desire for her. It felt like she had been waiting for this moment all her life. With the smile of a wanton vixen, she reached out, curled her hand around his, and gently pulled him down the hallway towards her room.

Cameron looked back at House as soon as they got to her bedroom door.

He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and spoke in a deep gravely voice."You think your boss will mind you missing work tomorrow?"

xxxxxx 

"I can't accept you're job offer." Cameron told Sebastian when she called him. Her admiring eyes never leaving House's toned physique as he headed into her living room the next day. Only half dressed, she could see his broad muscular shoulders and trim waist. He was sex on legs, and barefoot at that.

"You're kidding right?" Charles snapped.

"No. I'm going to stay in Princeton," she said looking over at House sitting on her couch and fiddling with her TIVO remote. His long, lean jean encased legs were propped upon her living room table, while his other arm was casually draped across the couch backing. _I finally have exactly what I want, I'm not going__anywhere._

"You have a chance to do some real good in Africa, Allison." Charles pleaded.

"And I have a chance to be really happy in Princeton Sebastian," she said a little annoyed with his persistence.

Sebastian sighed loudly. "You're not staying in Princeton for _you_, you're staying in Princeton for _him_."

"I love him."

"He'll never love you back Allison," Charles rationalized.

"I think he will. I think he does."

"Someone has to stop you from making the biggest mistake of your life."

"Someone already did. He stopped me from leaving him. Goodbye, Sebastian," she replied firmly before hanging up the phone.

Cameron looked back over in House's direction watching him as he watched her TV and sighed contentedly. She walked over and plopped down on the couch next to him. "What are you watching?"

House smiled. "America's Next Top Model."

Cameron laughed and House pulled her closer, both content. She saw the smile on House's face and knew that this was going to work. Chuckling slightly, she gained House's attention.

"What?"

Cameron laughed. "Nothing, it's just I never imagined that the five stages of death could lead to paradise."

Fini


End file.
